New jail stalls at finance committee meeting | News

Of the eight residents that spoke during the public comments section, seven spoke in opposition to the jail project. One person brought up the economy and the high interest rates, another is concerned how it would affect property values, and asked whether the current jail has ever even reached full capacity.  Another is opposed because of the raise in taxes and suggested that money be spent instead on an improved communications system. One stated they were worried about the younger generation needing to pay higher taxes and that they would prefer renovation of the existing jail. A resident from Bruce brought up the closing of the Jeld-Wen factory and the loss of 300 jobs.  

The first item on the agenda, regarding the jail, was a presentation on bonding by Justin Fischer from Baird, which preceded the discussion of whether to approve the motion authorizing the jail.

In his presentation, Fischer stated that the goal was to structure the financing in order to minimize the impact to the taxpayer and that, “What they’ve been doing since 2021 is trying to pay down the county’s debt knowing that this large project is on the horizon.”  Fischer stated that the county has not done any borrowing since 2021.  

After Fischer’s presentation, the county board members, who were present for this meeting, engaged in a lengthy discussion of whether they wanted to approve the resolution to authorize construction of a new Rusk County Jail.

Many questions were raised. Members wondered whether ad hoc committee had met to discuss public input and whether the board needed to decide what they are going to do first – before pursuing financing.

Another issue was the fact that there are other county facilities, like the county shop and the courthouse, that will need replacement or renovation in the future, and they speculated as to whether the planning should include those future needs.  

Stacy Zimmer commented, “I don’t think we have thought this through completely. We know we need to do something, so we’re rushing into a solution to put it across the street, when we’re not thinking about the future. We know in eight to ten years we gotta do something with the highway shop, we’ve been told that. We know another eight to ten, maybe 15 years after that, we’re gonna have to do something with this building. What are we doing here? We’re not even considering going somewhere where we can do this project in phases to take care of all of those things. We’re just rushing to put it across the road, in that parking lot and attach it to this building. Now we have a – for lack of a better use all total with interest – a 60 million boat anchor tied around our neck sitting right there that ties us right here. We really need to go back and think this through.”

Sheriff Wallace expressed frustration with the proceedings. He commented that the board has a history of “kicking the can down the road,” and that the costs for housing inmates in other county jails and for transporting inmates are going to keep going up. He also stressed the 

importance of keeping inmates in one building for the sake of safety and security. 

Supervisor Brian Coggins also brought up the issue of lack of planning. “There’s been nothing about what are we going to do with this building or what’s gonna be done with the Law Enforcement Center, the jail. What’s gonna happen with all those spaces? None of that’s been addressed from what I see. In that regard, we didn’t plan well.  I can’t in good conscience vote for this.”

After the discussion, there was a pause. Supervisor Terry Wedwick made the motion to approve the resolution to authorize the construction of the jail, but there was no second, so the motion failed. The next full county board meeting was held on Tuesday, June 25, after this edition had to gone to press.

See next week’s edition for more on this developing story.